1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an educational system for teaching children language and/or arithmetic, and in particular to a system where a child arranges one or more computer-recognizable characters on a working platform to spell words or provide a mathematical result in response to computer generated questions or prompts, the system then indicating whether the words or mathematical result is correct.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computers continue to grow faster and smarter and smaller, they have become omnipresent, reaching people of all shapes and sizes. Nevertheless, there remains one unchanging constant: in order for the computer to provide the information or operate as desired, some type of data must be provided to the computer. From punchcards in the late 60""s and 70""s to teletypes of the 70""s and 80""s to CRTs of the 80""s and to mouses and keyboards of today, there always remains a way for the user to enter data into the computer.
There has been one segment of the population that has largely been excluded from the computer revolution, the young child. This is true primarily for two reasons. First, young children have not yet developed the metal capabilities or the motor skills to interact well with conventional computers, which require data to be entered, for example via the key board or mouse, in a fixed format. Secondly, young children are interested and entertained by simple sensory input, and the vast resources offered by conventional computers are generally too advanced to be of interest to them.
One simple sensory input of great interest to children is the sense of touch. It is why young children are commonly more interested in the box or wrapping of a gift than the actual gift contained therein. Several games have been developed which indulge a child""s sense of touch, such as for example those including building blocks. Some such tactile systems also include letters in an attempt to educate a child while they are using the blocks. However, such tactile systems are ineffective without adult instruction as to what the letters represent. Moreover, the inventors of the present invention are unaware of any such tactile systems that work in combination with the vast resources provided by a computer.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an easy to use, safe and fun computer data entry device for children.
It is a further object of the present invention to make learning enjoyable for children by providing an educational system including tactile blocks that may be handled by a child indulges a child""s enjoyment of.
It is another object of the present invention to combine a tactile educational system with the vast resources provided by a computer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system for educating children, which may be used by a child without the aid or presence of an adult, and which may be used by a child at his or her own pace.
These and other objects are accomplished by the present invention, which takes advantage of the fact that children enjoy the tactile feel of small hand-held blocks in combination with a system to teach them language and/or arithmetic. According to the invention, a working platform has a surface for receiving a plurality of blocks, which blocks include characters on one or more surfaces thereof. When a block is placed on the working platform, the platform is capable of recognizing the location of the block, and the identification of the block.
The blocks are designed to look and feel like the spelling blocks that are typically found on the market todayxe2x80x94i.e., they may be made of wood or plastic and easily fit into young child""s hand; they have big, bright letters or pictures or symbols etched or displayed in a variety of colors on one or more of the surfaces of the blocks.
Preferably, each block includes directly beneath the surface an identification device for each character on the block that is capable of transmitting a signal uniquely representative of the character. When a particular block is placed on the working platform in a particular location, a sensor associated with that location detects the identification of the block.
The working platform includes a data processing device such as a computer, and digital circuitry that receives as an input the location and the identification of the detected block. The digital circuitry converts this information into a computer usable form and sends it via a data line into the computer.